Overview

Inform Direct brings statutory registers, deadline reminders, Companies House filings, share administration and document generation into one service. It can submit confirmation statements and many company changes electronically, and generate more than 400 secretarial documents, including minutes, resolutions, forms and certificates. That makes it a credible choice for recurring UK company administration, particularly where records and filings sit with the same team.

Its scope has firm boundaries. It supports UK-incorporated limited companies, public companies, LLPs and certain other company types, but not overseas-incorporated companies or registered overseas entities. Accounts support covers dormant companies and audit-exempt micro-entities; subscribers with their own presenter code can also submit iXBRL accounts files.

Key features

Records, filings and shares

Statutory registers and filing deadline reminders help keep ongoing obligations visible, while electronic Companies House submissions cover confirmation statements and many company changes. Shareholder records, issuing and transferring shares, and share reorganisations extend the service beyond basic filing administration. These functions are useful for organisations that need to track ownership as well as compliance, though they do not broaden its jurisdiction beyond the UK-focused entity types it supports.

Documents, accounts and integrations

Generating more than 400 company secretarial documents gives teams a substantial library for routine governance work. The accounts tools are narrower: they cover dormant and audit-exempt micro-entity accounts, with iXBRL submission available to subscribers who use their own presenter code. The API can add or remove companies and retrieve company lists and high-level company details, which is relevant when connecting an external system but is not a general-purpose integration claim.

Access and safeguards

The browser-based service is available 24/7 without a software download. Multi-user accounts can assign permissions by company and function, and subscribers can use two-step verification. Inform Direct says it hosts data in UK Microsoft Azure data centres, uses 256-bit SSL/TLS with TLS 1.2 as a minimum, and makes regular UK backups. It also says it is PCI DSS and GDPR compliant, with external specialists regularly reviewing and testing security. UK-based support is available by email, telephone, live chat and social media.

Pricing

The free plan is free and permits up to 10 companies, but chargeable transactions are paid separately. It is a sensible way to manage a small portfolio with limited paid activity; the cap and transaction costs become important as filing volume or company count rises.

Pay as You Go costs £15.00 per chargeable transaction, with prices excluding VAT and some transactions also incurring Companies House fees. There is no subscription commitment, and the plan is limited to 10 companies. It suits users who want to avoid a recurring subscription and expect only occasional paid transactions, but repeated filings can make per-transaction billing less attractive.

The Subscription plan has custom pricing, billed monthly according to the number of companies in the portfolio. Prices exclude VAT. It includes unlimited access to chargeable transactions, more than 10 companies and unlimited users. This is the stronger fit for larger portfolios or teams with frequent filing needs, though buyers should weigh the portfolio-based monthly cost against their expected usage.

Platforms

Inform Direct runs on the web and has an API. Its browser-based access avoids a software download, while the API supports specific company-management and retrieval tasks for external systems.

Who it's for

Choose Inform Direct if your work centres on UK company records, Companies House submissions, share administration and governance documents, especially when several users need controlled access. It is less suitable for portfolios that include overseas-incorporated companies or registered overseas entities, and the free and pay-as-you-go tiers will not serve portfolios above 10 companies.

Pros and cons

Pros: Statutory registers, deadline reminders, many electronic Companies House filings and share administration sit together, reducing the need to split routine company-secretarial tasks across services.
Pros: More than 400 generated documents and accounts support for dormant and audit-exempt micro-entities cover useful governance and filing work.
Pros: The free tier has no subscription price, and pay-as-you-go has no subscription commitment.
Cons: Free and pay-as-you-go plans stop at 10 companies, while pay-as-you-go charges £15.00 per chargeable transaction before VAT and any applicable Companies House fees.
Cons: Overseas-incorporated companies and registered overseas entities are outside its supported scope.
Cons: iXBRL accounts submission requires a subscription and the user's own presenter code.

Alternatives

Legal Entity Management Software is the broader category to browse if you want to compare entity-management options rather than settle on one UK-focused company secretarial service.

Choose Group Vision Web if you want a hosted entity-management option with broad platform coverage; its pay-as-you-go SaaS option uses an annual subscription model, with price not stated.

TaxCalc is worth considering for individual tax returns or practice-management needs rather than company secretarial administration; its TaxCalc 2026 Individual 6 plan is £42.00 per year for six returns for the 2025–26 tax year.

Alethia is another freemium option for entity management, with a free tier capped at five managed entities.

Diligent Audit is an alternative to consider if you are seeking audit-focused software.

EntityFlo offers a free first-entity plan with access to every feature, making it an option to compare for a single-entity setup.

GlobalBoards is another paid option in the governance and board-software space.

Computershare BoardWorks may suit buyers seeking a paid board platform with all modules included and unlimited committees; additional users are charged.

MinuteBox is an alternative to consider for law firms needing entity management, legal precedents and forms, and unlimited users.

Verdict

Inform Direct is a strong fit for UK-focused owners, advisers and company-secretarial teams that want records, filings, share administration and document generation in one browser-based service. Its free tier offers a low-commitment starting point, while subscription pricing removes transaction charges for frequent filing and supports larger portfolios. Look elsewhere if you need overseas entity coverage or a predictable low-cost route for frequent transactions across a small portfolio.

	CT hCue Entity Management	Inform Direct
Free plan		Yes
Paid from		Free
Platforms	Web	api, Web
Ownership structures	Yes	Yes
Governance documents	Yes	Yes
Filing deadline tracking	Yes	Yes
Jurisdiction coverage	global	single-country
Audit trail	Yes	Yes
Free plan		Yes
Entity limit		10 entities

CT hCue Entity Management vs Inform Direct

CT hCue Entity Management

Inform Direct